I am attempting to capture foottage from a Sony tape deck to FCPX.

Thank you I'm going to try that right now I know for sure the deck output is set to I link, so I will try your suggestions with the cable order. All the adapters are brand-new the only thing that's not new is the 6 pin fire wire 400 to 6 pin fire wire 400 cable.  I've had it for quite a long time but it looks like a pretty well-made shielded cable. I guess the only way to find out is get a new one.  Greg

Hi so here's something that I'm finding, when you go to set the output of the deck there really isn't an I link choice it's either composite S video or component . I link is not specifically there as an option unlike it is in the input section where you can clearly choose I link.  This clearly would seem like a possible problem. I don't see any definitive way to set FireWire as the output but it's very clear how to set FireWire as the input.  Greg

Greg,

FW400 and FW800 (IEEE 1394a and 1394b, respectively) differ only in maximum possible transfer speed. Connectors differ. They use the same transfer protocol. The deck you have is limited to 400 Mbps, so it's not going to transfer any faster to a computer with FW800 ports.

Here's one of many references I could point to:

thenextgalaxy.com/difference-between-firewire-400-and-800/

The i.Link input selection is all that you need to activate. There's also a local/remote switch that should be set to remote, so that FCP can control the deck. I can't recall if there are any other menu settings, etc. that you need to set for this to work (I haven't used this deck in over ten years).

Once you've got things configured, connected to the computer, and powered up, you might want to check System Information to see if the computer recognizes the deck (Apple menu, hold option and choose System Information. Then, go to FireWire Thunderbolt (?) under the HW section.)...

Hi so I did try changing the order of the cables and the power up and no success there but I did go in the system information like you suggested and I did find Sony DSR 1500 a in the hardware lineup. I guess that means something I just don't know what.

If "DSR 1500" (or something close to that exact term) is showing up in System Information on your Mac, then the deck is being recognized by macOS.

Did you look into the local/remote setting on the deck? Also, you might want to go through the configuration menus.

If you launch FCP and open the Import window, is the DSR-1500A listed as a source?

The big thing is if the deck is shown in System Information with its specific model.

Which versions of FCP and macOS are you running?

Yes Sony DSR 1500A shows up on the FireWire bus. I did make sure the deck is set to remote so maybe the biggest problem is my lack of understanding Final Cut Pro after using it extensively many years ago and obviously things are much different but when I go to import the deck does not show up all I have are cameras and devices as an option and neither one of those go anywhere. But I am very encouraged that the deck showed up in the system information thank you for that. Greg

You might want to try using the deck in iMovie.

FCP 10.6.3
Op system is Monterey 12.3.1om M1 Mac mini

FCP 10.6.3
Op system is Monterey 12.3.1om M1 Mac mini

Tried using iMovie but same as FCP which just lists Cameras and Devices as import options but no Deck ID shows up

Apple broke FW device support in mac OS 12.3.x

Update to macOS 12.4 (now 12.5 is out) and it should fix your issue!!!

I should have asked about your FCP and macOS versions earlier...

OK I will do that update right now. I really appreciate the help you've given me I really do thanks Greg

After the HW was showing up properly in System Information, I figured I ought to ask about your OS and FCP versions. The HW was the "hard" part. Glad to help...

Let us know if the OS update fixes things (it almost certainly should).

Well Dave, it would take me a while to explain how important rescuing this footage is to me. I have never joined a forum or any kind of user group before in my life but today you have taught me something very valuable. Your help leaves me wanting to do something to return the favor but I don't know how to do that but would be willing to do just about anything. After I install the update a launch Final Cut Pro and there it was Sony DSR 1500A. What a relief. I've done a few test captures and it's capturing fine but I haven't been able to capture anything more than 10 or 15 seconds long. When I try to capture a long clip it ends up being cut into pieces so I've got some learning to do it's been years since I used Final Cut Pro and everything is very different. So there must be some kind of capture settings that I haven't found yet but I'm just so glad that it's working I could jump up and down. Thank you again it is very very much appreciated. Greg Belger

As a check, you might want to try capturing some footage using iMovie. 

I'm at a loss why FCP isn't capturing more than 10 or 15 seconds.

Hopefully, someone else will chime in and offer some further suggestions.

I've captured hundreds of tapes thru legacy FCP 5 thru 7 using firewire and I don't recall exactly, but there seemed to be a specific order in which FCP and the device was made active to get reliable operation. I think I use to connect and turn on the DV camcorder or deck and then launch FCP. Try it both ways to see if it makes a difference. I'm quite sure it use to. FYI, we purchased an iMac 21 inch running High Sierra on eBay for $300 and it's a great firewire capture machine. We also use our Black Magic Intensity Pro 4K inside a Sonnet Pcie enclosure connected to an iMac Pro, but for standard DV the eBay purchase works great.

Hi, I will give that a try and start things up as you suggested. It's the weirdest thing everything looks completely normal while doing a capture but even if capturing a clip maybe 30 seconds long it appears to capture just fine but when you go to the library it's just a string of five second clips but if you actually check each one it's not like they all add up to the full 30 second clip there's still missing data. I haven't used Final Cut Pro for years so I'm sure part of the problem is I'm really fumbling my way through everything but I can't seem to find any capture settings to try.  There are no brakes in the time code and it's just weird how capturing one clip will turn into five or six short ones. Thanks for the response. Greg Belger

Are you capturing the clips onto your internal drive or an external drive? Enough empty drive space? If it's to an external drive, make sure the drive is formatted  with APFS or HFS+ (GUID) (i.e., "Mac compatible"). FCP doesn't play well with non-Mac-formatted drives.

The only other deck-related thing I can think of trying would be to set the "REMOTE I/F" menu item to "i.LINK", in addition to the LOCAL/REMOTE and input selection you've already done.

Another thing you could try is to make a camera archive (lower left corner of the FCP import window). This basically captures an entire tape. But, as Dan said, changing the order of how things are powered up and connected can make a difference. Restarting the Mac once everything is connected (or the deck) may possibly help. ???

Hi, thanks for the response, I was just trying to capture to the internal drive where there is 125 gig available. I'll try some of the things you suggested and see if that makes any difference. Thanks again, Greg 

I just took a look in the Library's Original Media folder to see what was in there.  I captured a 10 minute segment from tape, it's a single video file at about 2.5 GB.

Since I was just testing, I only had the FW output connected, and not my external monitor, so haven't looked at the deck's internal settings.  Now where did I stash that JVC 1700???